Hello-
Everyone tells you to check your credit report and credit score every year but not everyone does it. I went ahead and did it last month and was kind of surprised.
I went to annualcreditreport.com and got my free credit report. I paid the $7.95 to get my credit score too.
What I saw was not too encouraging.
My credit score is 636. That’s not very good.
I knew I didn’t have a great credit score but I didn’t think it was in the bottom 10% of the population in the credit score range.
But then I looked closer and saw that the range was from 501-990. That’s not a FICO score, that’s a VantageScore.
Gee whiz, what am I going to do with my VantageScore? Not many companies use it. So I paid $7.95 for a “credit score” but not my real FICO score.
So the key here is to make sure you get your FICO score and not just a credit score.
The VantageScore was developed to try and compete with the FICO scores but hasn’t caught on much.
With all that being said, I need to make sure I don’t apply for any new loans or cars or houses because I will probably be denied.
Why do I have a low credit score?
I make all my payments on time and rarely if ever miss a payment. In the past 48 months, all my credit card companies show that I have paid on time according to my credit report.
The biggest thing is that my balances are too high. I owe too much on my credit cards and that is why I have a bad credit score.
But I’m working on it like I know most people are.
In time, as my balances go down my credit score will go up and I’ll be a better credit risk.
Yeah, so that way the credit card companies will let me borrow even more money! Yippee! 
)
Thanks for reading.
Have a great day!
-Adam